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Self-dubbed as "your mum's favourite band" on their Instagram profile, Short Stack are undeniably one of Australia's most memorable bands to emerge in the early 2000s.
A bona fide pop-punk sensation before they'd even released a full length album, Short Stack's legacy built its foundations on the Myspace boom at the time alongside gravity-defying hairstyles and a cavalier swagger that also spawned multiple hits including Shimmy a Go Go, Sway, Sway Baby! and multiple full length albums.
In 2023, the hair may be less effusive, the eyeliner MIA, but the Short Stack spirit still burns as bright as ever, with the trio fresh off a 2022 sold out capital city comeback tour and a brand new single Shotgun Wedding also out in the world, dazzling in 90s flavours and the trademark Short Stack bop that has enamoured the group to fans throughout their careers.
Alongside releasing new music, also following on from their triumphant 2022 release Maybe There's No Heaven, Short Stack have also been busy of late elegantly trolling the media, releasing their debut album Stack Is The New Black on vinyl for the first time ever and, as of this week, launching into their Regional(Ish) Tour which will take the group across the country to travelled and not-so-travelled locales. And if that aint' enough Stack action for you this year, Short Stack are also locked in to appear at Good Things Festival this December along with Fall Out Boy, Limp Bizkit, Devo, Slowly Slowly and an army of others.
On the brink of yet another tour to add to their list, The Soundcheck's Tiana Speter grabbed a moment with Short Stack drummer Bradie Webb to round up some of his most memorable Short Stack touring moments so far. From scoring a support via Myspace to wholesome and hilarious moments - come re-live some Short Stack history before they hit the road this week!
TOURING MEMORY #1
Myspace Support
I reckon one of the first ones would be one of the first big shows we did. This isn't technically touring, it was one-off show, but I'm going to allow it. It was a show with Hellogoodbye, we did the support, and I remember we got that support through MySpace. We're very old and it was like this huge crowd and it was a really lovely, amazing feeling where it felt like we were on our way to playing big shows.
TOURING MEMORY #2
Good Charlotte & Tattoos
The second one I would probably say is when we did our tour with Good Charlotte, we realized that some very successful bands are lovely people. That was really, really fun. They were so nice and just so warm. And I got a Short Stack tattoo on that tour and I remember, I think it was Benji, he slapped it right after I got it done and that really hurt.
TOURING MEMORY #3
Family Ties
And then our third one is probably a more recent one, which is our tour from 2022. We all got to bring our children and it was just this lovely moment when we were all sitting in the van on the way to one of the Brisbane gigs. All our kids were together and it was just really nice and it felt like a long time coming. It was lovely.
TOURING MEMORY #4
Debut Duties
So sticking with favorite tour moment/gig moments: there was a point after our first album released in 2009 where I went and I did a bunch of promo for our North Queensland run, which was going to be the follow-up rural tour that we were doing after our big tour from our number one album. And I was so nervous because I had to do a lot of it by myself. So this is just me and a publicist touring North Queensland, going to all the radio stations and it was absolutely terrifying. But I did it and I was very proud of myself, so I'm going to count that one.
TOURING MEMORY #5
Battle Of The Bands
Another one would be: one of the first shows we ever played was a show called Youth Rock, and it was a band competition. I think we found it through our high school and I would've been 15 or 16 - and we sounded absolutely horrible. But I remember just playing on stage and the PA was really loud and I just thought it was such an amazing experience and I wanted to do it for a long time. And here we are.
TOURING MEMORY #6
Opera House Wins
I reckon one of the last ones all of us would agree with was when we played the Opera House. That was obviously a lovely moment because it's such a iconic venue. We were celebrating, I think, because I'm pretty sure that was when we found out our Planets single was doing really, really well and we got a bunch of plaques and awards on stage. It was a bit awkward, but it was a really special night.
SHORT STACK KICK OFF THEIR REGIONAL(ISH) TOUR TOMORROW, THURSDAY 5 OCTOBER.
THE BAND WILL ALSO BE MAKING NEW MEMORIES THIS DECEMBER FOR GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL.
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BY TIANA SPETER